Sen. Tom Coburn issues report on congressional waste that calls Landrieu's Small Business committee unproductive.
Washington -- Staffers for Sen. Mary Landrieu's Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee are pushing back against a report by Senate gadfly Tom Coburn that said her panel hasn't exactly been a robust performer during the 112th Congress. Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, said in his report on congressional waste that Landrieu's committee conducted only four hearings and passed out only three bills during the current Congress.
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu
Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, has recently demonstrated a preference for less formal round-table discussions, rather than formal hearings, arguing it makes it possible for more detailed and candid discussion on key issues. They aren't included in Coburn's count of congressional hearings.
Add those round tables discussions with formal hearings, her staff said, and the panel had more than 30 meetings on small business issues during the last two years. Three of them examined ways in which Congress could help small businesses and entrepreneurs start new businesses, or expand existing ones.
The 61 recommendations from the sessions formed the basis for Landrieu's SUCCESS Act, which she offered as an amendment, drawing 57 votes, including five Republicans. But the bill died because the vote was three short of a filibuster proof majority. Among those blocking a vote on the amendment was Sen. Coburn.
Coburn also complained in his "Wastebook 2012" report that the recent session of Congress was one of the least productive in history. Democrats responded that Coburn and fellow Republicans were a major reason why, insisting that even routine bills get 60 Senate votes to advance, not just a simple majority, and then voting against allowing a vote.
Among others targeted in Coburn's recent "Wastebook 2012" were tax exemptions for the highly profitable National Football League, National Hockey League, and Professors Golfer's Association; federally funded efforts to promote consumption of caviar and Alabama watermelon and a government funded study on how golfers can improve their game by imagining the hole is bigger than it actually is.
"The problem in Washington is politicians are very specific about what we should fund but not specific about what we should cut," said Coburn, who has broken with some fellow Republicans by embracing deficit reduction plans that combine significant spending cuts with some tax increases.